Publication Date: Friday, December 19, 2003
Eastside Prep girls roll to hoop victory behind barrage of 17 three-pointers
Eastside Prep girls roll to hoop victory behind barrage of 17 three-pointers
(December 19, 2003) by Keith Peters
Opposing coaches should know by now that you don't give the Eastside Prep girls a good look at a three-pointer.
The Panthers don't have any six-footers who make a living posting up, as much as head coach Gretchen Seeley would love to have such a player. Instead, Seeley has a lineup of guard-size players who can shoot the lights out when given the opportunity.
Such was the case this week when the Panthers made 17 three-pointers en route to an 86-33 nonleague victory over visiting Mountain View.
"We shot 17 for 29," Seeley said of her team's accuracy from three-point land. "It was an awesome shooting display."
Senior Chantelle Brown led the way with a season-high 27 points, all but three coming on eight three-pointers. She added 12 rebounds as the Panthers improved to 6-1.
Sharissa McDaniel added 15 points and seven assists while Brijitti Crum tossed in 21 points, including four treys, and Sade Johnson made a trio of treys on her way to 11 points.
While Eastside was achieving its high-water marks for the season, in terms of treys and points, Menlo School made its first win of the season a significant one. The Knights posted a 45-42 nonleague win over visiting Convent of the Sacred Heart, the defending CIF Division V state champion.
Constance Kirkendoll and Laura Crowe each scored 10 points as the Knights (1-5) finally broke their losing streak.
In tournament play this week, Palo Alto kept its title hopes alive while Castilleja had to battle through the consolation bracket at the annual Oak Grove Invitational.
The Vikings (7-2) won their first two games easily, downing King's Academy by 68-18 and toppling North Monterey County by 62-35. Senior guard Jossy Tseng scored a season-high 22 points in the opening win and added 17 in the second round. Sophomore Bre Clay scored 25 points in the two wins and sophomore Megan Grant tossed in 14 against North Monterey County.
Palo Alto will play San Benito/Hollister tonight in a third-round game at 6:30 p.m. Hollister knocked Castilleja into the consolation bracket by edgin the Gators, 41-35, in the opening round.
Aside from junior guard Mika Peterman, Castilleja (7-3) had its worst shooting effort ever against Hollister. The Gators made one of 29 field goals without Peterman. With her, Castilleja was 13 of 54. Peterman finished with 28 points.
The Gators bounced back in the second round with a 45-38 victory over Santa Clara. Peterman scored 14 points and surpassed 1,000 career points at the free-throw line with 6:08 left in the fourth quarter. She is the first player in Castilleja history to score more than 1,000 points.
Kate VanderPloeg, who had 14 rebounds against Hollister, added 13 against Santa Clara. Junior Nikki Perlman scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the second-round win.
Boys basketball
Menlo-Atherton, Eastside Prep, Palo Alto, Menlo and Gunn have played a combined 28 games this season and lost only five games overall.
The Bears (5-0) continue to surprise in the preseason following a 63-38 victory over Modesto in the opening round of the Tracy Winter Classic on Wednesday. Menlo-Atherton's perfect record, however, could be a risk in the second round because 6-foot-5 junior forward Dan Trautman has been sidelined with a knee injury.
Trautman suffered the injury in practice Thursday and coach Craig Carson isn't sure how long Trautman will be out. On Wednesday, Chris Dallmar filled in and produced 10 points as the Bears pulled together with a fine team effort.
Steve Yob led the way with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists while Carson Finkle added 10 points.
Eastside Prep (6-1) tuned up for the annual Fremont/Sunnyvale Tournament, which began Thursday, by shooting down host Overfelt, 59-32, on Tuesday, Keith Garner scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Clarence Webster added 10 points, five assists and four steals in another solid effort.
Gunn (5-2) got 16 points each from Chris Mugler and Peter Jordan in a 52-41 nonleague win at Hillsdale, which will visit Palo Alto on Saturday at 7 p.m.
For Paly coach Peter Diepenbrock, that game should be a breather compared to the wild game the Vikings had against Woodside on Tuesday. While the Vikings pulled out a 62-47 victory, the final score wasn't indicative of what kind of game it was.
Woodside pressed fullcourt to open the game, forcing turnovers and grabbing a 21-9 first-quarter lead. The Vikings trailed by 26-12 with 5:30 left in the second quarter before finally rallying.
"Early on we were real hesitant," said Diepenbrock. "They were killing us on the offensive boards and we just weren't running our stuff."
Paly finally pulled into a 29-29 tie before Woodside pulled away again to a 40-33 lead. The Vikings clawed back to tie at 40 on a jumper by sophomore guard Jeremy Lin
Two free throws by Oystein Aukland, a 6-5 transfer from Norway, gave the Vikings the lead for good at 42-41 with 6:46 remaining. From there, Paly continued to press Woodside into errors while outscoring the Wildcats 26-7 in the fourth quarter - including a 10-0 run to finish the game.
"It was a crazy game," said Diepenbrock, who had no answer for his team's strange start.
Aukland, who has been struggling of late while working his way into and then out of the lineup, sparkled with 16 points. Brian Baskauskas (12 points), Ben Schwartz (11) and Lorenzo Garcia (10) were solid offensively. Defensively, Lin and Garcia helped force Woodside into 28 turnovers.
Menlo (5-1) was forced into overtime before finally pulling out a 56-55 victory over host Prospect in the opening round of the Panther Invitational on Wednesday. Blake Schultz paced the Knights with 19 points while Brandy Bassett had 15 and Beau Heidrich tallied 10.
Boys soccer
Menlo-Atherton coach Juan Camahort will be able to enjoy his Christmas break this season. A year ago, his Bears were 4-3-1 going into the holidays; this year they're 6-2.
"Our slow starts have been a problem in the past," said Camahort. "This year we're starting fast. I just hope we can finish strong, too."
The Bears improved to 3-0 in the PAL Bay Division with a 3-1 victory at Sequoia on Wednesday.
"We're looking good," Camahort said. "We're starting to get our act together."
Menlo-Atherton grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal by Xeronimo Castaneda. After Sequoia rallied to tie, the Bears pulled away for good on goals by Javier Hil and Alex Ruck.
Camahort praised the defensive work of sweeper Darren Borcherdt and goalie Anthony Nikolchev. Ricardo Correa also did a good job filling in for injured starting stopper Spencer Collom.
In a SCVAL De Anza Division opener, Palo Alto received two goals from Ed Chang and solid defense from Justin Nolley, Cameron Taylor and David White in a 4-0 win over visiting Los Altos. The Vikings outshot the Eagles, 25-5, while improving to 6-1-1 overall and 1-0 in league.
Wrestling
Palo Alto senior James McCluskey went 4-0, winning all four matches by pin, to capture the 275-pound division at the annual Coast Classic in Scotts Valley last weekend.
Teammate Max Pinto finished the two-day tournament with a 6-2 record, good for fifth place. Fernando Shahpouri had three wins at 112 pounds, Amir Shahossini had two wins at 130, Gianni Rosas had two wins at 135 and Jon Leape had two wins at 103 as Paly finished 17th out of 45 teams.
Gunn, meanwhile, competed in the Lincoln Duals in San Jose last weekend and four four dual meets to claim first-place honors in the eight-team field.
Freshman Chris Gumbrecht (103), senior Will Keller (171) and junior Adam Juratovac (275) were undefeated in their four matches.
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